Tsunami Landslide Storm

Tsunami Landslide Storm

Monday, December 8, 2014

POWERFUL STORM TO IMPACT MONTEREY BAY AREA FROM LATE WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT




A STRONG STORM SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO DEVELOP OFF THE CALIFORNIA 
COAST BY MIDWEEK. 

THIS STORM WILL BEGIN TO SPREAD RAIN INTO THE 
NORTH BAY BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. HEAVY RAIN WILL THEN LIKELY 
DEVELOP IN THE NORTH BAY ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS THE STORM SYSTEM 
BEGINS TO PUSH INLAND. A BAND OF HEAVY RAIN IS THEN FORECAST TO 
SHIFT SLOWLY SOUTH THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY 
AREA LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY...AND THEN SOUTH INTO THE 
MONTEREY BAY AREA AND CENTRAL COAST FROM MIDDAY THURSDAY THROUGH 
THURSDAY EVENING. RAINFALL WILL BEGIN TO TAPER OFF BY THURSDAY 
NIGHT...BUT SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE INTO FRIDAY AND FRIDAY EVENING. 

RAINFALL TOTALS WITH THIS STORM FROM LATE WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY 
ARE CURRENTLY PROJECTED TO RANGE FROM 1 TO 4 INCHES IN URBAN AREAS 
AND AT LOWER ELEVATIONS IN GENERAL...AND FROM 5 TO 8 INCHES IN 
THE HILLS. LOCALLY HIGHER RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE 
NORTH BAY COASTAL MOUNTAINS...THE SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS...AND THE 
SANTA LUCIAS. 

RECENT SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL HAS SATURATED THE SOILS ACROSS THE 
REGION. HEAVY RAIN WITH THIS UPCOMING STORM WILL THEREFORE RESULT 
IN MINOR FLOODING OF LOW LYING AND POORLY DRAINED AREAS...AS WELL 
AS RAPID RISES ON AREA STREAMS AND CREEKS. 

IF HEAVY RAINFALL PERSISTS FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME...MORE WIDESPREAD                                                             AND SIGNIFICANT FLOODING WILL RESULT. 

IN ADDITION...HEAVY RAINFALL WILL RESULT IN MUD SLIDES AND DEBRIS FLOWS                                                          IN AREAS OF STEEP TERRAIN. 

THIS STORM IS ALSO FORECAST TO PRODUCE STRONG AND POTENTIALLY 
DAMAGING WINDS. SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL INCREASE ON WEDNESDAY 
AFTERNOON AND BECOME STRONG AND GUSTY BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT. 
STRONGEST WINDS ARE CURRENTLY EXPECTED FROM LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT 
THROUGH MIDDAY THURSDAY. DURING THIS TIME...WIDESPREAD WINDS 
GUSTS OF UP TO 50 MPH ARE LIKELY AND LOCAL WIND GUSTS OF UP TO 70 
MPH ARE POSSIBLE NEAR THE COAST AND IN THE HILLS. WIND SPEEDS OF 
THIS MAGNITUDE WILL TOPPLE TREES AND BRING DOWN POWER LINES. 
WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES ARE LIKELY. 

THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL GENERATE LARGE WAVES OFFSHORE...WHICH WILL 
BEGIN TO BREAK ALONG OUR COAST BY MIDWEEK. HEAVY SURF WILL THEN 
CONTINUE THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. 

ANYONE LIVING IN...OR TRAVELING TO...THE SAN FRANCISCO AND 
MONTEREY BAY AREAS LATER THIS WEEK SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR STORMY 
CONDITIONS WITH PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WINDS. 

TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES ARE LIKELY DUE TO SLICK ROADWAYS...ROADWAY 
FLOODING AND AIRPORT DELAYS. LIGHTWEIGHT OUTDOOR ITEMS SHOULD BE 
SECURED TO PREVENT THEM FROM BEING BLOWN ABOUT BY THE STRONG 
WINDS. 

PLEASE CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS FOR UPDATES ON 
THIS UPCOMING STORM AT http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mtr/